IT IS amazing that as time goes on, history repeats itself again and again — despite the negotiations with the City, we still do not have a lease for our waterfront premises, providing us with some security of tenure. Until a new plan for the Portlands is published, we are unlikely to obtain one.

Waterfront Toronto (WT) and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority held a joint (and packed) public meeting at the Toronto Reference Library on 14 December, 2011. This was to look for new ideas to accelerate progress in developing the Portlands and appeared to be related to the City’s recent unsuccessful attempt to take back control of development from WT. I offer a big thank you to members who attended the meeting and wearing their yellow jerseys. The CEO of WT spent some time in extolling the virtues of their achievements: wave decks, large commercial buildings on the edge of the Inner Harbour, parks where the main ingredient is concrete. He went on to estimate that the time to complete their planned development would be eight to ten years; and he advised that a new Stakeholders Committee was to be formed. A City Official responded and estimated that at the present rate of progress it would take some thirty years before the Portlands were developed, therefore there was need to accelerate progress.

Our site, as shown on WT’s map, is part of their planning area. It became clear that the area of the Portlands North of the Ship Channel was in a flood plain area and that major development was dependant on the flood control plan for the Don River being implemented. Finance appears to be the main impediment to the latter and while profits from WT’s existing projects were to be ploughed back to cover future development costs and maintaining their bureaucracy, there was no clear source of funds for the massive costs of the planned Don/Keating flood diversion into the man made marsh.

Answers to questions covering the Lake Ontario Park Plan, the security of tenure of the boating clubs (us) and access to the water were vague or non committal.

The only area of the Portlands not dependant on the flood control plan is the area south of the Ship Channel, that is the land immediately north and south of Unwin Avenue. In my opinion we can therefore expect to see some adjacent and near term development which could materially effect our existence.

The Outer Harbour Sailing Federation, our landlord and of which we are a member, held a meeting on 19 December to consider matters and it was decided that each club would act independently and attempt to get one of its members elected to the 30-member Stakeholders’ Committee, which will hold its first meeting in January. The objective of the Stakeholders Committee is to provide input into the new Portlands Plan which is to be presented to the City Council in June/July, 2012.

In summary, it appears that all the efforts that all our members made a few years ago: attending Lake Ontario Park Stakeholders’ Meetings, wearing their yellow jerseys, holding show-and- tell days, talking to politicians and so on, may have to be repeated all over again.

Peter Brayshaw